Giving up Dáil seats to women

Sir, – Anthea McTeirnan trivialises apartheid (Opinion, March 9th). The South African government denied people the right to vote, concentrated them in townships, imprisoned, tortured and murdered them: to call having too few women TDs “apartheid” is grotesque.

Furthermore, it would be wrong to say “25 TDs are girls” and it is equally wrong for this article to use the demeaning “boys” and “lads” to talk about men.

The case would be better made with more careful use of language. – Yours, etc,